Five-player games were the norm
throughout the event with attendance dictating the need for only
two 4-player matches.

Gordon Rodgers (left) and Perrianne
Lurie study the game situation on the USA map in the preliminary
round.

Even More Power ...

We had 79 attendees over three heats playing on the US and
Germany maps, with 19 advancing to the semi-finals played on
the map of Italy. 23 heat games were played, 15 on the U.S. and
eight on the German map. There were two 4-player games, one during
the preliminary heats and one semi-final; the remainder were
5-player. The 4-player preliminary game ended in a 4-way tie
for first: all four players powered 18 cities!

The winners of the
semi-finals were Luke Koleszar, defending champ Jim Castonguay,
Bill Salvatore, and Bob Sohn. Leigh Eirich was the closest second
in the semi-finals. She matched Luke's 15 cities powered, but
had only eight in cash compared to Luke's 14.

The Final was played on the map of France with the central
portion which contains Paris excluded to provide a challenging
game.

Turn 1: Leigh and Bill (who went second and third for purchasing
resources) each bought four coal cheaply causing Jim to pay eleven
for three coal to power the two cities he built later.

Turn 2: Jim paid 22 for power plant 11 and Luke paid 23 for
power plant 17. In the building phase Bill built two cities in
the north and blocked Luke's expansion west. Luke in turn built
one city and blocked Bill's expansion east.

Turn 3: Bob, who was the first player, was the only one to
purchase a power plant (power plant 16 for 16). Leigh built one
city and blocked Bill's expansion to the west.

Turn 4: No one purchased any power plants. Bill, who would
have built first this turn, passed and became even more blocked.

Turn 5: The bidding for power plants was fierce. Jim paid
38 for plant 26, Leigh 36 for plant 28, and Bill 36 for plant
27. Bob did not purchase a power plant. Everyone now had three
power plants.

Turn, 6: Only Luke and Bob purchased power plants. Bob built
four cities this turn, for a total of nine, which initiated Step
2. At this point, the city count was: Bob 9, Leigh 7, Luke 6,
Jim 6 and Bill 5.

Turn 7: Everyone but Leigh purchased a new power plant, but
she was the only one to buy a new plant on turn 8, paying $46
for #32. Also on turn 8, both Bob and Jim stockpiled resources.

Turn 9: The Step 3 card was revealed. Everyone bought power
plants at cost except for Bob who paid 97 for plant 36 (which
was the highest numbered power plant bought). Bill stockpiled
extra resources. Jim built his 15th city to end the game, and
won by powering 14 cities. Luke, Leigh, and Bob each powered
13 cities, and Bill 12. Jim purchased power plant 23 this turn,
and also had power plants 26 and 31. Bob took second and had
power plants 19, 21, and 36. Leigh came in third with plants
28, 32, and 35. Luke claimed fourth with plants 25, 30, and 33.
Bill was last with plants 20, 27, and 29.

Total expenditures in the Final were: Jim - $122 on five power
plants, $145 for fuel, and $292 for15 cities; Bob - $174 on six
plants (including $97 on the #36 plant), $157 for fuel, and $236
on 13 cities; Leigh - $150 on five plants, $104 for fuel, and
$268 on 13 cities; Luke - $143 on six plants, $96 on fuel, and
$284 on 13 cities; Bill - $102 on five plants, $118 on fuel and
$292 on 14 cities.

Of the 26 five-player games, the winner powered 14 cities
most often (nine times), then 15 cities (seven games), 16 cities
(six times), 13 cities (twice), 11 and 12 cities (once each).
The most popular power plants in players' possession at the end
were: 25 & 28 (25 each), 26, 31 (24 each), 20 (23 games),
21, 31 (22 each), 24 (21 games), 32 (20 games), 29 and 33 (19
each). This listing closely matched the power plants held by
the winners: 25 (14 games), 26 (11), 33 (7), 31 (6), 20 (5),
28, 29, 30 (4 each), 21, 34, 39 (3 games each). Interestingly,
the only eco-plant to make either top 10 list was plant 33, which
was third most popular among the game winners. Plant 50 was purchased
in seven games, twice by victors.

Jim Castonguay proved persistent in defense of his title,
playeing in all three heats. He placed second in the first two
heats and won on the third try to advance to the semi-final round.